Bartonella quintana
| Bartonella quintana | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Proteobacteria |
| Class: | Alphaproteobacteria |
| Order: | Rhizobiales |
| Family: | Bartonellaceae |
| Genus: | Bartonella |
| Species: | B. quintana |
| Binomial name | |
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Bartonella quintana (Schmincke 1917) Brenner et al. 1993 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Bartonella quintana, originally known as Rochalimaea quintana, and "Rickettsia quintana", is a microorganism transmitted by the human body louse. This microorganism is the causative agent of trench fever. This bacterium resulted in over 1 million soldiers in Europe during World War I being infected with trench fever.
B. quintana has an estimated genome size of 1,700 to 2,174 kb.
B. quintana is a fastidious, aerobic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped (bacillus) bacterium. The infection caused by this microorganism, trench fever, was first documented in soldiers during World War I, but has now been seen Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Its primary vector is known to be Pediculus humanus variety corporis, also known as the human body louse. It was first isolated in axenic culture by J.W. Vinson in 1960, from a patient in Mexico City. He then followed Koch's postulates, infecting volunteers with the bacterium, showing consistent symptoms and clinical manifestations of trench fever. The medium best for growing this bacterium is blood-enriched in an atmosphere containing 5% carbon dioxide.
Humans are the only known animal host for this bacterium in vivo. It infects endothelial cells and can infect erythrocytes by binding and entering with a large vacuole. Once inside, they begin to proliferate and cause nuclear atypia (intraerythrocytic B.quintana colonization). This leads to apoptosis being suppressed, proinflammatory cytokines are released, and vascular proliferation increases. All of these processes result in patients possessing systemic symptoms (chills, fever, diaphoresis), bacteremia, and lymphatic enlargement. A major role in B. quintana infection is its lipopolysaccharide covering which is an antagonist of the toll-like receptor 4. The reason this infection might persist is because this organism also results in monocytes overproducing interleukin-10 (IL-10), thus weakening the immune response. B. quintana also induces lesions seen in bacillary angiomatosis that protrude into vascular lumina, often occluding blood flow. The enhanced growth of these cells is believed to be due to the secretion of angiogenic factors, thus inducing neovascularization. Release of an icosahedral particle, 40 nm in length, has been detected in cultures of B. quintana's close relative, B. henselae. This particle contains a 14-kb linear DNA segment, but its function in Bartonella pathophysiology is still unknown. In trench fever or B. quintana-induced endocarditis patients, bacillary angiomatosis lesions are also seen. Notably, endocarditis is a new manifestation of the infection, not seen in World War I troops.
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